Social Media Platforms Yet To Decide On Mechanisms Of Parental Consent: Report

Social Media Platforms Yet To Decide On Mechanisms Of Parental Consent: Report

SUMMARY

Social media companies are reportedly weighing the pros and cons of various mechanisms for taking parental consent before processing children’s data

Reports say that the regulations intended to curb big tech or conglomerates end up unintentionally entrenching them

The government then released the draft DPDP Rules 2025 on January 3, which remains open for public consultation until February 18

Social media companies are reportedly weighing the pros and cons of various mechanisms for taking parental consent before processing children’s data.

As per ET’s report, citing one of the senior executives of the social media platforms, they need a separate consultation on the mechanics and brass tacks of verifiable parental consent.

Meanwhile, another executive said that the regulations intended to curb big tech or conglomerates end up unintentionally entrenching them.

Few other executives of these players have also shared their comments on how easy it is for big tech companies such as Google and Meta to verify a parent-child relationship, while it is a long maze for the young startups in the country.

The report further highlighted that some platforms where parents are not primary users of the application, would have bigger hurdles to completely construct from scratch some kind of integration into DigiLocker, a third-party linkage or have its own ID verification mechanism which is a highly expensive proposition, as per one of the executives.

In July last year, the government along with tech executives and startup leaders tried to figure out various solutions like using Aadhaar, Digi-Locker, or a one-time electronic token to verify children’s ages and confirm their relationship with the consenting guardian, which was deemed “unfeasible”, back then.

Meanwhile, the Centre also began looking to further refine the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Rules as a part of its effort to save children from harms in the digital space while fostering their engagement with technology, earlier this month.

To note, the DPDP Act classifies users under 18 as children and mandates social media or internet intermediaries, known as data fiduciaries, to obtain explicit parental consent before processing any data from children.

The government then released the draft DPDP Rules 2025 on January 3, which remains open for public consultation until February 18.

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